Another horrible mommy moment

Today one of my worst moments as a mother came. After I left Brandon at school, I decided that Owen and I would pop over to Mervyns to pick up some pants for Brandon. That boy is growing like crazy! Anyway, once we get there I'm letting Owen walk around with me, since I'm starting to carry clothes around the store. The first thing he does is bolt around the corner and hides behind some hanging coats. "Ha ha, funny funny, Mommy!" is the look I get from him. After I told him that was a no-no, he was really good about staying in my line of sight...like running down the walkway to the other end of the store. He only stopped when he found a rack full of chocolates and treats! The unfortunate thing was that I saw an aisle of kids bedding while chasing my renegade baby. I thought new character sheets and comforters would be nice Christmas presents for Brandon & Dylan. While I'm trying to find the right characters and sizes, Owen is pulling package after package of sheets out onto the floor. While I'm putting them back, he seizes one of the comforters I pulled out for the boys and takes off running. He turns the corner and runs up the next aisle with the comforter in tow. Just as I turn the corner to see him, down he goes, face first onto the hard floor. When I picked him up there was blood everywhere. This was no "I bumped my nose and it started to bleed" accident. We are talking gushing, not stopping accident. I swore he broke his nose. I had the biggest wad of kleenex in my purse, and it was soaked in no time. The fact that Owen was screaming crying and in hysterics didn't help with the blood flow either. He was just making it worse. I'm silently freaking out, trying to think of what I should do...I'm frantically making phone calls. Why??? Talking to someone on the phone is not going to help! I then grab the first person to walk by and ask them to get someone to help me. Funny thing was, all Owen needed was an unfamiliar face to distract him. He calmed down as the store clerk and this gentleman talked to me. Owen layed on the floor just long enough for the blood to stop. I honestly didn't think it would! So there we are, finally walking out of the store covered in blood. It was an experience I won't soon forget.

Tahoe getaway

Russ & I went to Tahoe this last weekend...just the two of us. It was a much needed getaway. We're both stressed out and needed some time just to focus on each other. We decided to stay at one of the casinos. We were lucky enough to have a room facing the lake on the top floor of the Mont Bleu. Sadly, the view was about the nicest part of our stay. We were able to enjoy a few dinners and some gaming before we were reminded by our neighbors why we rent houses instead of staying in hotels. I had to call security at 3 a.m. after listening to their party for an hour. It was security's second trip to the room next door, so all but the registered guest were kicked out. Ahhh, sleep.

We did make it out of the casino to walk around some nature trails. We were lucky enough to catch the end of the salmon spawning season. It didn't take long for me to wish the kids were with us. They would have loved all the different paths. They would have felt like they were in a Dora cartoon, I'm sure! They would have been even more excited seeing all the beautiful red fish. While we were out walking on the trails, we had heard a couple of people talking about black bear that came down eat around 5 p.m. every evening. Luckily we were there at 2 in the afternoon, otherwise I probably would have panicked. Yes, I'm a wuss. I'm not in any rush to see a bear in the wild. I don't care how far away it is!

Our last night there if finally started to rain. By morning it was snowing...barely. I spent the morning watching the snow drift by our window as I read a book. It was nice, peaceful morning. The perfect morning before heading back to reality.

Preschool's Halloween parade

(Check back later. I have to get photos from my mom. She and Diane took Dylan and Owen to preschool's trick-or-treat parade while Russ & I were at Silverbend with Brandon.)

Photos: Pumpkin Patches

Silverbend with kindergarten

Brandon got his wish today. He got to ride on a school bus. We met him out at Silverbend pumpkin farm this morning. He was thrilled to find out that he was going on a train ride when we got there. He had a second wish come true: a ride in a caboose. It started to rain a bit while we were out there, but that didn't bother the him. He was muddy and smiling from ear to ear as he boarded the bus with his perfect pumpkin.

Houdini baby

I went into the boys room to check on them tonight, take all the books out of their beds and tuck them in again. When I got to Owen's crib, I couldn't stop laughing. I told Russ he had to check out Owen. Russ laughed, too and called him the Houdini baby. Owen had unsnapped and unzipped his blanket footed jammies and then took them off. They lay in a heap next to his little diapered body. We were in disbelief that he was able to take his jammies off all by himself.

Photos: Dylan's 3rd Birthday events

Dylan's 3rd birthday goes on and on and on...

Dylan had four days of birthday fun. We took the boys to Funderland on Thursday, Dylan's actual birthday, after Brandon got out of school. Talk about the perfect time to go. They had the whole place to themselves almost the entire time we were there. They went on ride after ride after ride, never getting bored. How is that possible??? Owen even got to go on a couple. He's got a thing for trains, so he really enjoyed the train ride. (Actually I think he enjoyed watching the train more than riding it.) He even got to ride the little cars that you "drive". Look of shock on his face when the car started to move was hilarious! He was looking around like he was thinking, "Who's driving this thing???" Brandon and Dylan couldn't get enough of the rides. They must have gone on the cars and planes 5 or 6 times. They were not happy with us when we said it was time to go. We ended up deciding a pizza dinner would be perfect for Deets, and that calmed everyone down. The rest of the day was yummy pizza, and then presents and cupcakes at home. I'd say Dylan had a wonderful birthday.

Friday we took Dylan and Owen to Impossible Acres Pumpkin Patch since Brandon was going to Silverbend with his class on Halloween. We didn't want them to miss out on the pumpkin patch this year, so we made a special trip just for them. The place was packed with school kids, but we were still able have some fun. We just moved whenever anything got crowded. There were pumpkins to choose, a hay stack with a tunnel to climb, the hay maze to wander in, and animals to see/pet. The boys had the best time.

Later that night was Brandon's school's Fall Festival. Brandon and Dylan had a blast "fishing" for prizes, bouncing ping pong balls into a witches cauldron, netting for rubber ducks, throwing bean bags...the games were never ending. Every prize they won was a little trinket that they just adored because they won it. They played until they saw the snow cones and cotton candy. You could just see in their eyes they were having the best night ever.

Saturday we had dinner at my mom's house. My brother and his family were there too, so the boys got to spend the evening playing with their cousin. It's practically anything goes at my mom's house, so needless to say it was another great evening for the boys. They ran and played and went crazy until it was time to go home. At least with all the craziness comes good, hard sleeping.

Sunday morning was the BIG day: birthday party at The Bounce Spot. I don't have to tell you how excited Dylan was. All he cared about was that their friend, Gracie, from preschool and Brandon were there to play with. He wanted to spend his day playing with his two best friends. It was non-stop play until he decided he was hungry "right now." He was so focused on pizza, that he refused to sit for his group photo with his friends. We all left the bounce area a little early because Dylan was starving. It's his birthday, so he can call the shots. We ended up with a group photo at one of the tables just before cake time. Speaking of cake, he loved his. It was a Toy Story cake...sort of. They couldn't provide me with an actual Toy Story cake, so I ordered a generic "happy birthday" cake and added my own Toy Story cake toppers. Dylan LOVED it. He was so excited that he had to point out who everyone was on his cake. Present time was pretty cute, too. He kept saying, "Oo, oo, oo!" going an octave higher with each "oo." Of course, his favorites were the Toy Story presents, but he also loved the big bouncy ball. We had to take it out right there on the spot. As fun as it all was and as happy as Deets was, Russ and I were so happy when it was all done. We are TIRED!

Go, dog. Go!

We took Brandon and Dylan to see Go, dog. Go! at the B Street Theatre today. We were a little nervous that Deets might get fidgety and bored. Oh, were we wrong! He barely blinked and laughed through most of the show. He just loved it. Brandon really enjoyed the show, too. Whenever I glanced at him he was watching with his mouth open or smiling. On the ride home, we asked them what their favorite part was. They couldn't decide. They named all sorts of things they saw.


The production was really enjoyable. I found myself laughing a lot, which really surprised me! I didn't expect it to be as funny as it was. The physical humor and facial expressions of a few actors had me laughing a lot. Russ and I were so glad that we were able to do something new and fun with the boys.

Video: Froggie Owey

Owen is just figuring out that animals make sounds. After bath, Owen is usually the first one to come out to get dressed. He comes running out for big hugs. It's so sweet. While Owen is getting his diaper and jammies on, the older boys come running out wearing hooded animal towels and making the sound for whatever animal they are wearing. Now Owen thinks every animal roars. He has started running out of the bathroom roaring. The best part is he only roars when he's wearing the towel. If he takes his towel off and I ask him, "What does the froggie say?" he just looks at me. If I put the towel on his head and ask him again he roars. It's hilarious.

He's so cute when he roars, that I had to get it on video when I had a free moment. (After bath is just crazy time.)